- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
Global stocks down, euro slumps over growth and inflation worries
World equities mostly fell Thursday and the euro hit a five-year dollar low as investors worried about growth amid stubborn inflation and rising interest rates.
Frankfurt, London and Paris stock markets each sank following heavy falls in Asia.
Meanwhile, Wall Street was mostly lower in late morning trading, with the Dow down 0.3 percent.
Panic-stricken investors also sent virtual unit bitcoin tumbling to the lowest level since late 2020 after a dramatic collapse in some stablecoin cryptocurrencies.
Oil prices pushed higher as investors focused on supply issues.
- 'Sticky inflation' worries -
Data released Wednesday showed US inflation slowed to 8.3 percent in April after a four-decade peak of 8.5 percent in March, but that was less than what experts had forecast and prompted concerns inflation will remain high.
Wednesday's stock trading is "pointing to a market that is becoming more concerned about slowing growth, and sticky inflation, aka rising stagflation and, or recession risk", according to analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
The dollar has gotten a boost, both as the greenback is seen as a haven in uncertain times and as the US Federal Reserve has taken the lead in raising interest rates in the face of surging inflation.
The dollar is currently at a two-decade high against a trade-weighted index of rival currencies, and on Thursday the euro slumped to a five-year dollar low at $1.0389.
"Given the combination of a relatively hawkish monetary policy stance and a dollar-positive global backdrop, we expect the dollar to grind higher against nearly all developed and emerging market currencies over the course of the Fed's current tightening cycle," said analysts at Capital Economics.
Interest rates are being hiked worldwide to tackle decades-high inflation, which is fuelled mostly by rocketing energy costs.
Both raising prices and borrowing costs threaten to halt growth in many countries, however.
London's stock market was slammed Thursday also by news that the UK economy shrank in March on fallout from soaring inflation, increasing the prospect of a recession -- or two quarters of contraction in a row.
The data sent the pound sliding to a May 2020 low at $1.2166.
World markets have been volatile for much of 2022 owing to China's Covid-19 lockdowns, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and as surging inflation weighed on consumer sentiment.
Cryptocurrency trading has also been dampening investor sentiment after two so-called stablecoins proved to be anything but. Supposedly pegged to the dollar, both TerraUSD and Tether saw the values collapse.
"The worry is that there will be a spillover to other risk assets like stocks, which could be treated as a source of funds to meet margin calls or which could simply be subjected to an exacerbation of the negative sentiment that has had a vice grip on the market for most of the year," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
Bitcoin slumped below $27,000, before recovering to stand down around 6 percent at $29,091.39.
- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 31,729.22 points
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,613.43
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.6 percent at 7,233.34 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 13,739.64 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 6,206.26 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 19,380.34 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,054.99 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,748.72 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.8 percent at $108.34 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $107.00 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0413 from $1.0513 at 2100 GMT Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2228 from $1.2251
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.18 pence from 85.81 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 128.23 yen from 129.97 yen
burs-lcm/rl/har
Ng.A.Adebayo--CPN